“I see. Thank you then.”

“No problem.”

When the door closed, Pesh debated going straight to his car. But he knew it would look even worse if her brother told her he had been there and then he had left without seeing her. Heaving a frustrated breath, he headed off the porch. He followed the sidewalk around the house to where it sloped down the hill.

At the side door, he knocked loudly. When the door flew open, Megan stared at him in a mixture of both surprise and horror. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

Pesh shoved his hands in his pockets. “You called in sick today. I was worried.”

“I’m fine.”

He fought the urge to say that by her disheveled appearance and dark circles under her eyes, she most certainly didn’t seem fine. “I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer. Kristi and I were worried about you.”

Her expression softened a little. “I’m sorry. I must’ve forgotten to charge my phone.”

“Can I get you something to eat? Some soup maybe?”

“Really, I’m fine.”

“But you look so pale. Will you let me do an exam? You know the flu is—”

“I don’t have the flu.”

“How can you be sure if you haven’t been checked? Did you get the flu shot at the hospital? Sometimes it can give you a mild case.”

She shook her head and smiled. “I don’t have the flu. Since you’re going to keep on and on, I’m going to go ahead and tell you. I have really horrendous cramps with my period. Usually, I can manage them with birth control, but when I started clinicals and stopped working, I couldn’t afford the birth control without health insurance. And it wasn’t like I was ha**ng s*x anyway.”

While he appreciated her honesty, he was also slightly mortified. “Oh, I see.”

“I’m sorry to have embarrassed you,” Megan said.

He waved his hand dismissively. “Listen, when you return to work tomorrow, there will be a script for you for birth control. I don’t like the idea of you in pain, so I don’t want this to happen next month.”

“But the money,” she protested.

He shook his head. “It will be discounted through the hospital pharmacy.”

“Thank you, Pesh. That’s a very decent thing for you to do.”

A blonde head peeked around Megan. “Hi Esh. You play?”

He smiled at Mason. “I came to check on your mommy.”

Mason tilted his chin to look up at Megan. “Her tummy hurts. She no play. U play?”

“Um, well…” He wanted nothing more than to spend time with Mason, and in the same token, with Megan as well. But he was also walking such a fine line with her that he didn’t want to come on too strong and scare her off. “I’m not sure your mommy feels up to company.”

Megan smiled. “If you really don’t mind staying, we’d love to have you.”

“Are you certain?”

“Sure.”

“Okay then.”

Mason grabbed his hand and led him through the door. Pesh took in the cozy décor of the basement apartment. In one chair, Megan’s textbooks and papers were strewn around, while on the floor it looked like a tornado had blown through the living room with all the toys lying around. When he met her gaze, she flushed. “Sorry it’s such a mess.”

“It’s fine.”

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“No, I’m good,” he lied, as his stomach rumbled.

Megan cocked her head and shot him a look. “Sit down and let me fix you something.”

“Not with you feeling unwell.”

“Although I wish I could cook you something, I think I’m up to reheating some of the pizza we ordered today, or there are some homemade enchiladas I made last night,” she replied, as she opened the fridge.

“Enchiladas would be lovely.”

She smiled and took out a casserole dish. “You hungry, Mace?”

“Mmm, hmm,” he murmured, barely looking up at his mother from one of his toys. After spooning out two heaping plates full, along with some rice, she put it in the microwave. She then motioned for him to have a seat at the table.

“You don’t need to wait on me.”

“Just shut up and let me take care of you for two seconds.”

Her words reminded him of when she had cleaned his wounds after Dev’s punch. No matter what the situation, she was always ready to be there for him and take care of him.

The microwave beeped and brought him out of his thoughts. Mason hurried over to the table and sat down beside Pesh in his booster seat. When Megan put down the steaming plates, he reached for her hand and kissed it. “Thank you.”

A funny look passed in her eyes before she smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“Won’t you sit with us?” he asked.

“Actually, I would love to take a warm bath. You know, to see if it would help relax my muscles.”

Pesh smiled. “I’ll be happy to keep an eye on Mason while you do that.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course I don’t.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate it.” She kissed the top of Mason’s head, and then kissed his cheek. She turned to start into the bedroom before whirling back around. He lowered his fork at the expression on her face. Placing her hands on his cheeks, she leaned in and laid a big one on him. He couldn’t hide his surprise. When she pulled away, she grinned at his speechlessness. “I won’t be long,” she said.

Once the bedroom door closed behind her, Pesh gazed over at Mason. “What do you want to do when we finish eating?”

“Minions,” he mumbled through a mouthful of food.

Pesh furrowed his brows in confusion. “What’s minions?”

Hopping down off his chair, Mason ran over to the TV. When he returned, he had a DVD box in his hand. He pointed to some yellow blobs on the cover. “Minions.”

“Ah, I see. You want to watch this.” Mason bobbed his head. “Is it your favorite?” Pesh asked.

“Uh, huh,” Mason replied.

“Then I guess we better eat fast so we can watch it.”

At Mason’s beaming grin, Pesh felt a little tug in his chest. Even though he shouldn’t, he already had strong feelings for the little boy. From almost the moment they’d met, Mason had let Pesh into his world.

The sound of a fork clattering on a plate brought Pesh out of his thoughts. “Done!” Mason exclaimed, hopping out of his chair. Although Pesh wasn’t finished, Mason grabbed his hand and led him from the table. Instead of arguing with him, Pesh just let himself be dragged over to the TV. Once he got the movie on, they settled down on the couch. He couldn’t fight the warmth that spread through his chest when Mason snuggled close to his side. Instead, he just embraced the feeling and let happiness override the doubt that screamed in his mind.